Bathrooms can so easily swing on the pendulum from “spa-like retreat” to “smelly, dirty, and damp,” sometimes seemingly overnight. But funky smells in the bathroom are not inevitable.
By keeping your bathroom clean, keeping up with a few chores, and adding some scent-boosters to your space, keeping your bathroom smelling great really isn’t so hard after all. Continue reading to find out some of our favorite tips for both cleaning away the bathroom smell and for keeping it away longer.
1. Deep clean toilet siphons
By beep cleaning toilet siphons, you can save your time and money in the long run as it helps keep your toilet cleaner. This regime will also help mitigate smells. Get the full tutorial here.
2. Remove the toilet seat
The main reason your bathroom might smell bad is the lingering odor of urine.
If you want to get rid of this, you’re going to have to clean places you don’t normally think about. For example, when you’re cleaning your toilet, remove the seat. You’ll be amazed (and disgusted) at the stains you’ll find. But once you’ve scrubbed them away, you’ll notice a definite improvement in the smell of the bathroom.
3. Remove that urine smell
You will need a deep clean if the odor of urine is starting to take over your bathroom.
One of the best ways to do this is to make a thick paste from lemon juice (freshly squeezed is best) and baking soda.
Rub the paste over any part of the toilet that has stains or buildup and let it set for 15 minutes. To remove the paste, pour vinegar onto a toothbrush (one you plan to never use again, obviously), scrub over the paste and wipe everything down with a cloth or paper towels. See how this works via the tutorial here.
4. Lemon Pine-Sol (h/t Smart School House)
After finishing scrubbing the toilet, you probably rinse off the toilet brush and stick it back in its holder. And then you might start to notice a faint odor near your toilet. That would be the toilet bowl brush. Pour a little lemon Pine-Sol into the toilet brush holder (while the brush is in there) to help get rid of germs and odor. This will also make the brush a more effective cleaning agent next time you need to use it.
5. Homemade spray (h/t The Rising Spoon)
Give the room a quick spritz with a spray made from purification essential oil, witch hazel and purified water. If you need to take care of a particularly strong smell, add a little peppermint essential oil to the mixture.
6. Wash towels
Towels still smell a little musty sometimes even if you wash them regularly. Instead of buying a new set of towels, throw the ones you already own into the washing machine again. But this time, wash them in hot water with chlorine bleach. Instead of fabric softener, add half a cup of distilled vinegar to get rid of the old smell and prevent new buildup from forming. Finally, dry towels either outside or on the hottest setting of the dryer.
7. Odor-eliminating discs
Some smells need a more long-term solution. You need something that will act as a constant air freshener but without releasing chemicals into your home. If this applies to you, try homemade odor-eliminating discs. You just need 1/2 cup of baking soda, spring water and your favorite essential oil. Mix the ingredients into a paste, pour them into mini cupcake tins (or whatever containers you have) and allow them to dry for 24 hours. You can put the finished product in the bottom of a trash can or in a small dish on the bathroom counter and the rest can be stored in the freezer.
8. Clean the walls
You can use pretty much anything to clean the wall, but vinegar is the most effective way to kill germs and remove strong odors.
